SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - The Latest on protests in Santa Fe, New Mexico over a public tribute to Spanish conquistadors (all times local):
3:00 p.m.
Police have arrested 12 people in Santa Fe during protests about a costumed re-enactment of the return of Spanish conquerors to New Mexico after a 17th century American Indian revolt.
Police Sgt. Gardner Finney said a dozen people were arrested Friday on charges of trespassing and disorderly conduct.
Protesters were cordoned off in a corner of Santa Fe’s downtown plaza during the re-enactment as police thronged the area.
At the center of the plaza, a pageant marked the arrival of conquistador Don Diego de Vargas in 1692, 12 years after Pueblo Indians revolted and drove out Spanish colonists.
Protesters shouted, “You’re on stolen land” and “1680,” referring to the year of the Native American revolt.
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Public statues and tributes to early Spanish conquerors across the U.S. are facing mounting criticism tied to brutal treatment of American Indians centuries ago by soldiers and missionaries.
Activists are drawing ethical parallels to the national controversy over Confederate monuments.
From California to Florida, historical markers and common-place names trace the path of Spanish conquistadors and missionaries who accompanied them.
Starting in the 1500s, they explored and settled vast tracts of territory inhabited by American Indians in what is now the United States. Few if any monuments have come down.
In northern New Mexico, statues and annual re-enactments recognize Spanish colonizers who quelled uprisings by American Indians and meted out reprisals that included slavery and executions.
In Santa Fe, activists planned to protest Friday’s Don Diego de Vargas pageant.
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